- Active: '90s, 2000s
- Genres: Avant-Garde
- Instrument: Percussion
Biography
Multi-instrumentalist Randy Raine-Reusch has followed an eclectic and personal path in music. The improviser always has multiple projects to satisfy his interests in traditional world music and avant-garde music. His regular projects include the excellent world fusion group ASZA, and a trio with bassist Barry Guy and flutist Robert Dick. Raine-Reusch has also worked with modern composer Pauline Oliveros, world-class percussionist Trichy Sankaran, vocalist Sainkho Namchylak, and has even backed rock groups such as the Cranberries and Aerosmith.Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Raine-Reusch eventually moved across Canada to Vancouver, where he first began to delve into traditional world musics. One of his primary instruments early on was Appalachian music's dulcimer, followed by a period playing a bamboo mouth organ used in Thai music called a khaen. In the late '90s, he focused more on the zheng (a Chinese long zither with more than 20 strings) whenever performing in improvised settings. Over the years, he began learning to play an increasing number of instruments because he wanted to use them in compositions, yet couldn't find anyone to play them. Raine-Reusch had the opportunity to privately study with teachers of the respective traditional instruments, sometimes in the appropriate country. As a result, Raine-Reusch has had the honor of studying and even performing with musicians named "grand masters" and "national treasures" by their homelands, including an ichigenkin (Japanese one-string zither) duet performance with the Hereditary Grand Master of Seikyodo Ichigenkin in Tokyo.
Raine-Reusch now has a music-instrument collection of over 600 instruments and is able to play all of them. His culture-blending group ASZA incorporates original music into traditional forms, which they also blend in unusual combinations. ASZA has performed all over not only Canada, but at festivals and music schools in Southeast Asia, as well. In his collaborations with musicians of so many styles, Randy Raine-Reusch has performed at music events ranging from the Rainforest World Music Festival to various avant-garde festivals. ~ Joslyn Layne, All Music Guide
